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Today's
Meditation:
These are words that could-- or should-- lead us to
redefine "failure." Failure is not
necessarily a lack of success in doing things that other
people think we should do. Failure does not lie in
not living up the expectations of others. If those
things happen, then it's simply a lack of success, and a
great learning experience. Failure, though, must be
deeper if it's to earn the name. Failure is when we
stop being authentic, when we stop being true to ourselves
and our values and our integrity.
What Jawaharial is saying is that as long as we stay true
to our principles, then we cannot fail, no matter what may
be the outcomes. And as I consider this idea, I have
to agree-- a loss on the surface may be a victory inside if
we've made decisions based on our ideals rather than on
expediency or on the wishes of others. I know that
many people can't understand why I "settle" for
the pay of a high school teacher when I could be making
much, much more money teaching college, but I know in my
heart that I'm doing what I'm called to do-- I'm
"losing" the chance to make more money, but it
most certainly is not a failure in any sense of the word.
We must be true to ourselves-- otherwise, what's the point
of doing anything? Of course, we don't have to stick
always to the same way of thinking-- as we grow and change,
often our ideals and principles will change, too-- and
that's fine. But if we look at failure
realistically, then we'll see that we define failure
ourselves, and what many would consider a failure most
definitely isn't so, as long as we're being true to our
authentic selves and our principles and ideals.
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